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Saturday, March 24

Snacking on English

Saurabh had this interesting post on thotblurb on the exploding market for self-help books(in English) in India!

Since like many others, I have traversed the path from small town India to Mumbai, the city of dreams, I have lived through this fast-track booming India and its fascination for self-help. My addendum to Saurabh's pointers...

1. India may not be unique, any fast-track economy will have a huge demand for 'fast-track literature'!

2. I disagree with the premise that most of the non-textbooks till now have been bought for leisure reading...a visit to any wheelers book-store even a decade back wud have revealed a fat proportion of 'kaamyaabi kaise paayein' books! Competition Success Review has been a best-seller since the 80s...

3. The new change has been the translation of English sub-titles into Hindi/ regional languages...but a change under-way for at least a decade...It's of course accelerated with the economy. I myself have been a sucker for such books for a long time:-)
I had an old copy of 'How to win friends and influence people' in Hindi which i read and re-read although studying in an English medium school!

4. The real change that has happened is the SEC C-ization of the English language...the language of success & station. Nothing new here as well...just deeper penetration...the net is doing its own bit in democratising the access to English.

5. Yes Meraj - I too have read somewhere about the rise of the Hindi/ regional language blogs and other portals of indie expression...

6. I feel one of the primary reasons why self-help books are in great demand is their snack friendliness. Long fiction is not. In an attention deficit economy short tips on anything > twists and turns of long narrative...
Picture: The famous Wheelers bookstall at 'Katni' railway station during the great train journey...
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1 comment:

meraj said...

speaking of AH Wheelers, its a sort of institution in for us northerners (atleast in my family). before the days of mobile phones, it used to be like the McDonald of the platform...a meeting point for people.

btw, whats the name for its counterpart in the south...anybody?

3:47 PM

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